In case you care, here’s how Bear, the beer demon, creates our bad-ass brews. To start, he has taken his original recipes and modified them to be brewed on a larger scale. Running grain through the grist mill kicks of the process. It is here that the mill cracks the grain.
The milled grain then goes into the mash tun for an hour or so where the grain and water mysteriously meld to make the sinful mash. What really happens is: first, warm water is added to extract sugar; next, water is pulled out from the bottom of the mash tun and put back on top to make a cleaner beer; last, fresh water is poured on top, filtering the grain bed and picking up the sugars headed toward the boil kettle. The liquid sugar becomes the wort (that’s wort, not wart!).
The next step is to run the wort into the boil kettle – don’t worry the kettle is only for beer-making and not warlock brew. Hops are added in this step of the process, all in all taking about 60 – 90 minutes. The wort is then sent to the Fermentor where yeast is added. The fermentation process is when the beer is crafted from the wort and the alcohol content is calibrated. A hydrometer is used to gauge how much how much soluble sugar is in the wort, the yeast is added accordingly and the beer is made. After fermentation the hydrometer is used again to calculate the potency.
By the way, it is the variety of grain and hops and type of yeast that determines what style of beer is concocted. The temperature at fermentation contributes to the definition and nuances of the beer styles as well. And for some of the 7 Sins brews, the addition of natural flavors infuses an extra kick.
From the Fermentor, the brews go to the brite tank for a couple of days where it is carbonated and then kegged using CO2. 7 Sins Beer is kegged in stainless steel and stays below 38 degrees for maximum sinfulness – I mean freshness!
